Trace-carrier



No Model.)

S. J. BARTON. TRACE CARRIER.

No. 454,562, Patented June 23,1891.

0., vasnm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL JONES BARTON, OF MARLIN, TEXAS.

TRACE-CARRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 454,562, dated June 23, 1891. Application filed March 14, 1891. Serial No. 385,062. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL JONES BARTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Marlin, in the county of Falls and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trace-Carriers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to that class of tracecarriers which are provided each with a buckle or similar means, whereby it may be attached to the back-band of a harness for horses; and its object is to provide means whereby a trace-chain may be readily inserted in the carrier, and whereby the chain thus inserted will be prevented from removal, either accidentally or otherwise, so long as the carrier remains in position for service.

To this end my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts forming a trace-carrier, hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure I is a side View of my trace-carrier, showing also a portion of the back-band, to which it is attached, and a portion of a tracechain in position to be carried by it. Fig. II is a forward edge view of the trace-carrier, showing a portion of the chain in the act of being inserted. Fig. III is a forward edge view of the same with the chain in position for service and the buckle closed to prevent its accidental removal.

The carrier-frame comprises a buckle portion having an upper cross-bar 5, two vertical side bars 6 and 7, and a buckle-tongue 8, which is pivoted at 9 in the said side bars and provided with a series of teeth 10 to pass through the back-band 1.1 and to rest while in service upon the cross-bar 5. The end of the backband, after being brought outward through the buckle and beneath the bar 5 and engaged by the said teeth, is passed backward through a hole 12 in the frame of the tongue 8. By this means it will be seen that the weight of the buckle and any attachments thereto pulling upon the back-band tends to close the buckletongue upon the cross-bar 5.

13 is a cross-plate secured to the side bar 7 and extending the width of the buckle.

14. is an arched rib extending crosswise and outward from the lower end of the side bar 6 to near the middle of the carrier, whence it is extended downward and inward to meet the plate 13, to which it joins at the lower edge thereof.

15 is the lower arm of the buckle-tongue, having an outward extension 16, adapted to rest as a detent for the chain 18, against the under side of the rib l-l, when the buckletongue is closed, as in its normal position of service. The upper edge of the plate 13 has a notch 17 to increase the aperture through which the chain 18 is to be passed, and the end 20 of the plate 13 is free from the frame to the extent of leaving above it a mouth 19, through which a link of the chain may be passed edgewise to bring its forward end outwardly, so that the body of the chain will rest under the rib 14 in front of and parallel with the plate 13 and beneath the detent 16 of the tongue. The rib 14c performs the actual service of supporting or carrying the chain. The plate 13 keeps the chain from chafing the back-band. The detent 16 prevents the chain from being removed from the carrier until the detent is swung inward by loosening the strain of the back-band on the buckle-tongue, as shown in Fig. II.

It will be seen that the weight of the chain supported by the carrier tends to close the buckle-tongue, and thereby to hold the detent 16, which confines the chain in the carrier; but when the buckle-tongue is loosened and swung backward, as shown in Fig. II, a large space is left beneath it, through which the chain may be readily withdrawn or replaced, and the wide plate, leaving only the narrow mouth 19, through which the chain can only pass by carefully directing the link edgewise, further secures the chain from removal, because the passage-way beneath the rib 14 is too narrow for the chain to be drawn directly backward out of it.

This trace-carrier is very light, perfectly reliable, simple in construction, and easily operated.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I believe to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following:

1. The combination, in trace-carriers, of a buckle portion comprising an upper crossbar, two side bars, and a tongue pivoted therein, having teeth at its upper end to engage the back-band of a harness, an aperture in its middle, through which the back-b and may pass, an arm at its lower end provided with the outward-extending detent described, a carrier portion comprising a cross-plate attaehed at one end to one of the side bars of the buckle and separated from the buckle at the other end, and a rib connecting the lower end of the other side bar-of the buckle with the lower edge of the said plate, the said rib being arched outward to receive behind it a trace-chain, substantially as described.

2. lhe combination, in trace-carriers, of a buckle portion comprising an upper crossbar, two side bars, a lower cross-plate attached SAMUEL JONES BARTON.

Witnesses:

T. K. BARTON, .T. H. VANCE. 

